If you love making your home beautiful for the holidays, continue reading. In the past, decorating the exterior of your home was a messy and tedious job that required hours, if not days of work. Plus, it poses risk of damage to your property, because in the process, you created holes in siding, ripped shingles, gutters and caused damage to windows. Year after year, we get so caught up in the excitement of the upcoming holidays, that we forget to consider alternative methods of hanging holiday exterior décor.

It’s time to decorate smart.

So, what are the most popular areas on the home to decorate?

  • Along the roof
  • Along the eaves
  • Front door
  • On columns and posts
  • Around railings
  • Windows

Many homeowners put in nails or staples on roof shingles and/or siding, and gutters. This approach creates an opportunity to form small holes which can lead to leaks, compromising the roof materials, wood trim, and vinyl siding, as well as other areas of the exterior facade.

Although we’re happy to come make repairs to your home, we’d rather see you make efforts to keep it in tact – so, here are a few suggestions on hanging decorations outside of your home with minimal risk of damage:   

Exterior light clips
These clips can be reversed for use and you can easily hang them along the edge of your roof and/or gutters, and siding. There are several from which to choose. They allow for more creative control over the display and won’t cause damage to siding, roof or gutters. While many clips advertise, they are safe to use on gutters, use them as directed but don’t overload your gutters with additional weight.  

Regular clothespins
An inexpensive choice for attaching lights to the eaves or soffit. They sure add a certain nostalgic charm. 

Wrap it up!
Another lovely way to holding garland or lights around columns, pillars and railings is to take a creative tuck of the end to hold it in place while another person wraps. It’s a practical approach because it lets your visitors see where to grab while climbing up the steps.

Suction cup hooks
Glass provides a great surface for suction cup hooks. You can hang a wreath on every window, or front door. But be sure to get quality suction cups. 

Magnetic attraction
Magnetic lighting is becoming more popular. They look like traditional holiday lights but the magnetic backing can be stuck to metal, such as iron and steel, but not aluminum. There’s no need for nails, or clips, just the power of magnets. To remove, simply pull.  

Going high tech
Thanks to smart devices, touch screen and smartphone light controls make controlling household electronics easy. Same goes for holiday exterior lights. String lights are programmable, making it fast and convenient to create multi-colored light shows – virtually from anywhere.

With so many options for hanging holiday lights on your home, you won’t have to ruin your roofing, siding, gutters, doors and windows. Take note that using nails, screws, staples and other penetrating fasteners (even glue) to secure decorations is not the best solution since these methods can lead to damaging leaks and damage to the surface.

If you’re adding lightweight or plastic décor, keep in mind that winds and storms may blow the items a considerable distance.  We sometimes get icy conditions in Chicago-land before Christmas and the holidays, so plan and organize accordingly.

Discover other ideas at:  https://www.prohome1.com/blog/